A cool shot of CFSBK OG Kevin R. climbing the knotted rope

This Week at CFSBK in Review

1. The final LFPB Q&A Info Session —”The LFPB Is Ending. What Now?” —is tonight at 6:00pm. You’re almost there, LFPBers!

2. Coach David reflected on his Open Workout 16.3 experience. It’s a fun read and a good example of how to plan a workout simply and effectively.

3. In our continuing series “Better Know a Member,” we profiled hardworking CFSBKer and all-around great dude Frank H.

4. Wondering how you stacked up against your fellow CFSBKers in 16.3? Here are all of our leaderboards!

5. Going into the final workouts of the CFSBK Open Intramural Team Competition, it’s shaping up to be a real nail biter. It’s going down to the wire. These teams are fighting tooth and nail. You can feel the electricity! It’s anybody’s game. Everyone’s giving 110%. Or pick your other favorite sports cliche. Here are the Week 3 Standings!

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Power Snatch | Recovery Run or Row
If I Were a Ballerina The New Yorker

Power Snatch

Part 1
Power Snatch
1-1-1

Work up to a max for the day. Press-outs are missed reps.

Part 2
Every 30 seconds for 5 Minutes (10 total reps):
1 Power Snatch at 80% of today’s max

Post loads to comments.

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Recovery Row or Run
Row an easy 3k or run an easy 1.5 miles. Keep the pace conversational. 1.5 Miles = 4 laps + 4th Avenue and back.

Coach Frank working with Natalie R. to dial in her split jerk at our Next Level Weightlifting Club

• Jaclyn K.’s 9am Yoga class is cancelled today and for the rest of March.
  
• Open Workout 16.4 will be announced tonight at 8pm EST. Go here to watch the announcement!
• The final LFPB Q&A Info Session —”The LFPB Is Ending. What Now?” —is this Friday, March 18th at 6:00pm.

CFSBK Open Intramural Team Rankings: Week 3

Holy cow, sports fans, what a week it was in the CFSBK Open Intramural Team Competition! Let’s start at the back of the pack, where It’s My Open and I’ll WOD If I Want To turned in their strongest performance of the season to pull into a virtual tie with Blue Steel. “We’re not afraid of [Blue Steel captain] Andrew Shay‘s threats,” said It’s My Open team member Steph Mulder during Tuesday’s press conference. “I live with him and can stick his hand in some cold water while he sleeps if I have to,” she added.

Amid escalating tensions, there was a positive story this week: every team either improved their overall average and/or put up their strongest score of the season. The Sore Winners dropped their overall average to 30 points. All Castro Oiled Up tied for this week’s second best score, solidifying their position in the top 3 and finally living up to the image that their team name evokes (an oiled-up former Navy SEAL). And isn’t that what the Intramural Team Competition is all about? The heartwarming stories?

No. It’s about (figurative) bloodshed and winning, so here’s the story you all came here for. After the Little Lebowski’s Urban Achievers’ effort to knock top dogs Your Pace or Mine? out of first place last week, Your Pace responded with a resounding “this aggression will not stand, man” by racking up their best score (19) of the competition. But the Urban Achievers came thundering back with a “that’s just, like, your opinion, man” and a staggering score of 15 points. As we head into the last two Open Workouts, Your Pace and the Urban Achievers are tied for 1st place with an overall average of 21 points.

Current Ranking – Team – Overall Average (Week 3 Points)

1. Your Pace or Mine?: 21 (19)

1. The Little Lebowski Urban Achievers: 21 (15)

3. All Castro Oiled Up: 25 (19)

4. Sore Winners: 30 (29)

5. Blue Steel: 31 (29)

5. It’s My Open and I’ll WOD If I Want To: 31 (28)

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Front Squat | Push Presses, Deadlifts, Box Jumps
Toes-to-Bar: Why You’re Strugglng to Touch Your Tootsies Box Junkies
My Debt to Ireland NY Times Magazine

Front Squat

75% x 5
85% x 3
90-95% x 1
85% x 3
75% x 1

If you’re feeling good then go for the 95%, if not then back off a bit and hit around 90%.

Post loads to comments.

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Every 3 minutes for a total of 5 rounds:
5 Push Presses 115/75
10 Deadlifts 115/75
15 Box Jumps 24/20

Score fastest and slowest rounds. Any version of the Box Jump is acceptable today: Bounding, Stepping, Jump Up/Step Down, Step Up/Drop Down, etc.

Post times to comments.

Coach Whit and Brett F. took on 16.3 at CrossFit Flathead in Montana, and Kate R. was on the scene to take photos

• Team Captains: please submit your team score to the intramural spreadsheet by 12pm today.

This Friday: The Final LFPB Q&A Info Session, “The LFPB Is Ending. Now What?”

Attend this Look Feel Perform Better Q&A Info Session, the last of our bi-monthly Q&A Info Sessions. As always we’ll have a brief lecture followed by an open Q&A.

The LFPB Challenge is coming to an end, and you may be asking yourself some questions. What now? Will you keep tracking macros? Can you eyeball portions now? Should you switch to tracking macros from a Level 1 approach? Tonight we’ll discuss strategies you can use to maintain the progress you’ve made and solidify the healthy habits you’ve established. 

Where: CFSBK’s second floor Annex
When: Friday, March 18th at 6:00pm

Open Leaderboards

Wondering how you stacked up against your fellow CFSBKers in 16.3? Here are all of our leaderboards!

• Overall Leaderboard
• Men’s Leaderboard
• Women’s Leaderboard
• Men’s Masters Leaderboard (40-44)
• Women’s Masters Leaderboard (40-44)
• Men’s Masters Leaderboard (45+)
• Women’s Masters Leaderboard (45+)

(NOTE: There are technically a few divisions between 45 and 60; however, in the latter two, we only had a couple of competitors in each division. We combined everyone 45+ to make it easier to view.)

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Rest Day
Elbows in the Press CrossFit
This Is, In Fact, The Greatest Tattoo of All Time Metal Injection

Frank H. and Coach Jess at CRASH-Bs in Boston a couple of weeks ago. Read on to learn more about Frank!

• Team Captains: please submit your team score to the intramural spreadsheet by 12pm tomorrow.
• CFSBKer Haggai M. is leading a workshop and performance at Mark Morris Dance Center this Friday, March 18th at 6:30pm. Check out the details here!

Better Know a Member: Frank Howell

Welcome back to a newish feature on the CFSBK blog, Better Know a Member! (The name is a play on an old Stephen Colbert segment, Better Know a District.) You all love Underneath the Hoodie and Behind the Desk, and now, in a similar vein, we’ll be profiling members from across the CFSBK community. In our previous installment, we introduced you to Maya O. Today it’s time to meet Frank H.!

Where were you born and where did you grow up? Born and raised in the suburbs of Detroit. All my family are still there, so I go back pretty often. I have a lot of pride in being from Detroit and think it’s an amazing city if you know how to tap into it. I sometimes flirt with moving back, but then reality sets back in and I remember that Brooklyn is home now.   

How long have you been CrossFitting, and how did you arrive at CFSBK? I think I’ve been coming to CFSBK for about three years or so now. The world of lifting weights was pretty foreign to me before coming here. I’m a runner who never really thought about lifting heavy shit, but as 40 approached I thought it would be an interesting way to help improve my running and try something new. I don’t remember how I heard about CFSBK specifically, but I live on Degraw, just the other side of the canal, so proximity surely had a part in my coming here. The awesome coaches who took time to help a complete novice learn the ropes kept me coming back.    

What are you up to when you’re not at 597 Degraw Street? Work wise, I’m in Human Resources in the financial services industry. Yes, I’ve fired a lot of people (but I promise most of them deserved it!), but I also know the right things to say to get you more money if you’ve been laid off, or if you’re interviewing for a new job and negotiating salary. Outside of work I’m a total foodie, cocktail drinker, and traveler. My big trip this year is two weeks in Iran in early May.    

What’s the first movie you ever loved? I can’t really remember, but as a child of the 70s, I assume it was ET or Star Wars. However, the movie that I’ve loved the longest has to be Auntie Mame (the Roselyn Russell version, obvi). It’s a bit of a cliché for a gay man my age, but it’s fabulous. It’s all about living life to the fullest.   

You have friends or family coming to visit from out of town. What do you take them to do in NYC? I tell them to go to any of the touristy stuff without me. I’ve thankfully lived here long enough where most of my non-NYC family and friends have been here and already seen the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty. If they want to see it again, they are on their own. My preference would be to take them for a bike ride to Coney Island, a trip to the Brooklyn Flea, or for drinks in Red Hook.

Favorite and least favorite lift: Least fave is the Snatch. Its just got so many little pieces to it that I struggle to get organized. I would say that my fave lift is the Low Bar Back Squat, but given the hybrid version I do, lets just leave it at Back Squat.

Any advice for new CFSBKers? Talk to people when you’re lifting! Everyone is pretty cool and it adds to the sense of community when you’re at the gym. Oh, and put your shit away when you’re done using it, nobody likes a sloppy gym!

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Clean | Wall Balls, Double-Unders
Advice for the Newbie Weightlifter Breaking Muscle
Stunning Life-Sized Photos Capture Close Encounters with Whales Wired

Hang Clean

3-2-1-1-1-1-1

Work up to a max for the day.

Post loads to comments.

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AMRAP 10 Minutes:
25 Wall Balls 20/10, 14/9
50 Double-Unders

If you don’t quite have Double-Unders, sub 1/2 attempts + makes.

Post rounds, reps, and Rx to comments.

Coaches Jess and David doing Open Workout 16.3. That’s Jess’s first Bar Muscle-Up at around 4:50! Read on for David’s report on the workout

Reflections on My 16.3

By David Osorio

Score: 86 reps
Tie Break: 6:18

I was probably least looking forward to this workout relative to the other two that have been released so far. While I knew that the Bar Muscle-Ups wouldn’t be a problem, I’m not great with light-weight, high-rep workouts because I tend to burn out really quickly. I also had a less concrete strategy going into this one, whereas with 16.1 and 16.2, I had a very clear idea of what I needed to do to get the score I wanted.

My loose plan for 16.3 was to start unbroken at a steady clip and then just react to whatever happened over ther course of the workout. I knew I had to do all the Muscle-Ups unbroken regardless of how far I got, because it would help me out when I had to start breaking up the Snatches. For the Snatches, my plan was to do 6-4 when I needed to start breaking them so the second set wouldn’t feel so bad.

Overall, I’m satisfied with how I did. Looking back over the video, if this came up again, I would really have to speed up my transitions between movements. I was way too casual about getting to either bar. I also would have attempted to make the last 3 minutes more uncomfortable that I allowed them to get. If you’ve got the Muscle-Ups, this workout should feel like a lightweight “Fran” towards the end. I didn’t mentally prep enough for going into that pain cave, which I think was the difference between my score and breaking 7 rounds.

Thanks to everyone who stuck around to cheer on Charlie, Jess, and myself. Thanks to KHarpz for being my judge and Bryan B. whose voice (the one you hear in the background) helped keep me on task when I wanted to rest. No thanks to the barbell for slipping out of my hands in that last round!

New and Notes

• The final LFPB Q&A Info Session —”The LFPB Is Ending. What Now?” —is this Friday, March 18th at 6:00pm. We’ll discuss strategies you can use to maintain the progress you’ve made and solidify the healthy habits you’ve established.
• Coach Whit and Brett F. took on 16.3 in Montana and Kate R. was on the scene to take some photos. Check them out here!
• Be sure to submit your individual scores to the CrossFit Open website by 8pm tonight. Team Captains: please submit your team score to the intramural spreadsheet by 12pm on Wednesday. Due to some weirdness with the Open leaderboard, we’ve extended that deadline a bit.
• Mario A. spotted this CFSBK sticker at Grand Targhee Mountain in Wyoming. Super cool!

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Bench Press | Run, Dumbbell Push Press 
16.3 Recovery and 16.4 Prep The Knot Out
The Bible – Jack Handey YouTube

Bench Press

3-3-3-3-3
Work up to a heavy triple Bench Press. No failing.

Post loads to comments.

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2 Rounds for Time:
800m Run
25 Dumbbell Push Press, Left
25 Dumbbell Push Press, Right

800m = 1 lap around the block + to 4th Ave. and back. Choose a heavy weight for the dumbbell that you have to break up the reps into 2-4 sets.

Henry P. fighting for it at the most recent Starting Strenth Program Total. There are still a few spots in the A cycle that begins tomorrow. Hurry up and get on it before it sells out!

• Be sure to submit your individual scores to the CrossFit Open website by 8pm tomorrow night. Team Captains: please submit your team score to the intramural spreadsheet by 12pm on Wednesday. Due to some weirdness with the Open leaderboard, we’ve extended that deadline to Wednesday.

Register Now For Starting Strength Program (formerly known as Strength Cycle)

We all want to get stronger. That’s because we implicitly understand that building strength is the foundation for increasing overall physical capacity. It has been proven again and again that lifting heavy primes our bodies to be more effective and efficient at metabolic conditioning workouts. Strength is the only mode of training that supports everything else we do in the gym and in life. Plus: it’s pretty badass. 

Upcoming Program Times and Dates:

A cycle: Novice, 7pm Mon/Wed and 6pm Fri | Monday March 14th – Friday May 6th
All other cycles are sold out

Each cycle will culminate in a CrossFit Total on Sunday, May 8th.

Class Sizes: Space is limited to 4-8 participants
Class Length: 90 minutes 

Cost: 3x Per Week Cycles:
$300 paid upon registration and then another $300 at the halfway point
Cost: 2xW Cycles:
$200 paid upon registration and then another $200 at the halfway point 

Group Class/Open Gym/Active Recovery/Yoga/Pilates Add-On Option!
This add-on membership allows our 2x/week Starting Strength Program to attend two additional classes per week, outside of the regularly scheduled strength cycle classes. This includes group classes, open gym, and Active Recovery/Yoga/Pilates. 

Price is $100 per four weeks, first bill due at sign-up and second bill ($100) charged automatically to the card on-file four weeks later. Register here!

Questions? Contact Coach Jeremy directly at Jeremy [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com.

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How to Bench Press with Mark Rippetoe Art of Manliness
Awkward Metal Band Photos

Open Workout 16.3

Complete as many rounds and reps as possible in 7 minutes of:
10 Power Snatches
3 Bar Muscle-Ups

(Here’s a great video from CrossFit HQ on the Bar Muscle-Up: The Bar Muscle-Up with Boz)

This workout begins with the barbell on the floor and the athlete standing tall. At the call of “3, 2, 1 … go,” the athlete will perform 10 Power Snatches, then move to the Pull-Up bar to perform Muscle-Ups. After 3 reps, the athlete will move back to the barbell and begin their next round.

Your score will be the total number of repetitions completed within the 7-minute time cap.

The scoring for this workout includes a tiebreak. At the end of each round, time should be marked. When you submit your final result, your score will be the number of reps completed. There will be another field in which you will enter the elapsed time at which you completed your last full round. In the case where 2 athletes have the same score (total number of reps), the athlete with the lower tiebreak time will be ranked higher.

Note: All tiebreak times must be reported in elapsed time, not in time remaining. If you are using a countdown timer, you must convert to elapsed time before reporting your score. For this reason, it is recommended you set your clock to count up.

Post rounds, reps, and Rx to comments.

Coach Noah’s CrossFit Teens class getting their WOD on last week. Read on for more info on this great program!

• Schedule Change: Coach Whitney‘s 10am Yoga for Athletes class is cancelled today.

Have You Heard About Our CrossFit Teens Program Yet?!

Have a teenager who is looking to gain a competitive advantage in their sport, improve their fitness, learn new skills, and have fun in a supportive, social environment? CrossFit Teens is a strength and conditioning program that is specifically designed for teenagers and helps them develop a lifelong love of fitness. In a group setting, teens participate in fun and engaging workouts that deliver measurable results and prepare them to be well- rounded athletes. The workouts consist of constantly varied, functional movements that deliver a fitness that is broad, inclusive and general and scalable for any participant at any level. 

Classes will begin with a warm-up and icebreaker-style question. Each class will include skill practice and a strength development aspect, specifically designed to be accessible and appropriate to teenaged athletes. Classes will finish with a WOD, or Workout of the Day, designed to test work capacity, endurance, skill, and strength in a fun, competitive, but inclusive environment. As the school year starts, post-class homework time will be included to take advantage of the increased mental capacity brought about by movement and physical exertion.

Schedule:
Tuesdays: 4:30p – 5:30p
Thursdays: 4:30 – 5:30p

Pricing:
Single Class Drop-in: $35
10 pack: $300 ($30/class)

Sign up here!

Questions? Email Coach Noah at Noah [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn.com for more information!

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Rest Day
Why Are We Still Listening To Music in Two Dimensions? Vice

One last Iron Maidens photo: Coach Jeremy sending Charlie in to crush a Deadlift. More photos can be found here, here, and here

This Week at CFSBK in Review

1. Iron Maidens Raw Open competitors raised over $29,000 to send 12 women from Grace Outreach to college. Congrats again to Coach Margie and Events Coordinator Danae M. for putting on a spectacular event. 

2. Janet U. produced an awesome video about Iron Maidens for Salon, which has been reposted around the web a number of times. Watch it! You won’t be disappointed.

3. In our most recent installment of “Better Know a Member,” we profiled illustrator and dedicated CrossFitter Maya O.

4. We also chronicled recent accomplishments by CFSBK members. Have something you want to share with the rest of the community? We want to hear about your promotions, events, art, personal victories, discoveries, media campaigns, and small government coup d’états, or you can just share interesting links. We also always love hearing about any CrossFit/athletic-related goals and accomplishments. Send awesomeness to Josh [at] CrossFitSouthBrooklyn [dot] com.

5. Things are HEAT. ING. UP. in the CFSBK Open Intramural Team Competition. Here are the standings heading into 16.3.

6. In a new Etiquette Tip of the Week, we implored you to wash yer dang cups. We’re counting on you, gang. Don’t make us exile you to Broville.

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Clean | Run, Front Squats, Muscle-Ups (or Push-Ups)
Mastering the Bar Muscle-Up YouTube

Clean

Work up to a clean that’s a bit heavier than the weight you’ll use for the metcon.

Post loads to comments.

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Performance
3 Rounds For Time:
400m Run
7 Front Squats 185/125
7 Muscle Ups

Cleans come off the floor, and the first Front Squat can be a full Clean. The Front Squats should be heavyish but unbroken. If you can do a a few deep ring dips and are stable on top of the rings but don’t yet have ring Muscle-Ups, substitute Jumping Muscle-Ups. Be sure to catch the transition at the bottom of the dip.

Fitness
3 Round For Time:
400m Run
10 Front Squats 135/95
20 Push-Ups

Same as above: No rack—first Front Squat can be a full Clean. The Front Squats should be heavyish for 10 but unbroken is the goal.

Throwback Thursday: Jacinto B. and Allan E. at CFSBK’s very first Fight Gone Bad

• Schedule Changes: Today’s 9am Yoga and 7:30pm Active Recovery classes are cancelled. 
• Open Workout 16.3 will be announced tonight at 8pm EST. Go here to watch the live annoucement!  

Etiquette Tip of the Week: Wash Yer Dang Cups!

Art by Jen Murray

Rub-a-dub-dub one cup in a tub, and nobody’s gonna wash it but you! We love you guys, but you’re kinda messy sometimes. Here’s a refresher on drink and sink etiquette:

• Feel free to use any of the cups in either of the racks at 597! But once you’ve finished you drink or finished class, please wash it with soap and water and return it to the drying rack so somebody else can use it. Same goes for dishes and utensils.
• You can keep your cup on the counter until you’re done with it. Please don’t bring open containers onto the gym floor.
• You can, of course, also leave your own water bottles and shaker cups on the counter, but don’t forget to take them home after class! Protein shakes get smelly real fast, and the neighbors (especially that busybody Martha) are starting to wonder about our large collection of water bottles.
• Nespresso pods and K-Cups are available at the front desk for $1.

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Burpees, Deadlifts | Thrusters, Row
Here’s the Thing About Cardio… Weightlifting and Conditioning Catalyst Athletics
A Civil War Love Story The Hairpin

Burpees + Deadlift

Every 4 Minutes for 5 total sets:
8 Burpees + 8 Deadlifts

Perform the Burpees as fast as you can and work up to a max set of 8 Touch-and-Go Deadlifts. Maintain a neutral spine. The idea is to get a sense of how much weight you can handle for reps under duress. Aim to start at about 50% and go up from there as appropriate.

Post loads to comments.
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15-12-9 For Time:
Thrusters 95/65
Calories on the Erg

Try to go unbroken on the Thrusters and get right to your first stroke on the Erg each round. This should be fast and a bit painful.

Post time and Rx to comments.

Video of the Week: Check out Coach David doing Open Workout 16.2!

• Schedule Changes: Tomorrow’s 7:30pm Active Recovery class and Saturday’s 10am Yoga for Athletes class are cancelled. Jaclyn K.‘s Thursday morning Yoga classes are cancelled for all of March.
• CFSBKer Janet U. produced an awesome video about Iron Maidens for Salon. Watch it! You won’t be disappointed.

CFSBK Open Intramural Team Rankings: Week 2

There was high drama heading into Open Workout 16.2. Would Blue Steel team captain Andrew Shay‘s trash talking get his team in trouble? Would he follow through on his threat to lure other teams into the shoe closet and beat them with Thera Canes and PVCs? The answer turned out to be no to both, as Blue Steel turned in a stronger performance this week and no shoe-closet beatings had occured at the time this column was filed.

But the real winners this week were The Little Lebowski Urban Achievers (Mr. Lebowski’s children, so to speak), who edged out last week’s winners Your Pace or Mine? for this week’s top spot with a score of 21 points. Heading into the midpoint of the competition, Your Pace or Mine? is holding onto first place by just 1 point.

Current Ranking – Team – Overall Average (Week 2 Points)

1. Your Pace or Mine?: 22 (22)

2. The Little Lebowski Urban Achievers: 23 (21)

3. All Castro Oiled Up: 28 (27)

4. Sore Winners: 30 (31)

5. Blue Steel: 28 (32)

6. It’s My Open and I’ll WOD If I Want To: 40 (49)

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Yesterday’s Whiteboard: Rest Day
Are Detox Diets Good For You? Precision Nutrition
The Vast Bay Leaf Conspiracy The Awl